The Battle of the Burning Isle
Ships on the Horizon As The Ivory Order and the demons of Brimrock prepared for a final siege of Ythanica, the armies of the realm traveled in secret to the Fortress of Eranor. Slowly, the fleet of the free peoples of the realm came into view; the battle of the war against evil had begun. The Courage of Men ;The Approach It is with heavy hearts that the armies of Ythanica accepted the severity of what was to come. They knew the battle would claim many of their lives, but they could never have been prepared for what they now faced. The demons of the island were as foul as those that had destroyed their cities, yet there were fouler still. Creatures too massive to invade the mainland resided here, and the sight of their size and strength stole the courage of each soldier who gazed upon them. ;Landing The fleet took heavy fire under assault of the fire elementals of the island. Dozens of ships were either sunk or dead in the water, and some of the soldiers were forced to swim to shore. The mages of the fleet teleported those they could and were the first to face the armies of evil. The Dire Council determined that their army would need to take the isle's summit and overrun the fortress. ;Terror As the battle progressed and troops arrived on the shores of The Burning Isle, the realm experienced loss of life in uncountable numbers. The cries of dying soldiers filled the air as those who could fight held their ground with sword, staff, spear and bow. The fate of the battle looked grim, but when a nearby fortification was crumbled by a blast of magic, the soldiers gained the opening they needed. They stormed the shore and charged up the hill to the summit of the isle. The Head of the Snake ;Face of Evil In the heat of battle, High King Loras I and Grand Warden Althalos Grey engaged the leader of the cultists: Amicus White. Loras and Althalos stood face-to-face with their enemy as the fighting raged around them, fixed on each other. The combined force of the demons and blood mages was too great for the free peoples of the realm, but the defeat of Amicus could mean a swing in the tide of war. With the blessing of light and the strength of the arcane, the arcanist and guardian fought for the fate of all. ;The Dark and the Light Dark magic exploded around the fighters. Arcane and blood magic clashed in a vibrant display of color and energy. Amicus fought Loras and Althalos from afar, using distance as his advantage, but Althalos used the power of light to smite his enemy, pinning him down and giving Loras a clear shot. The first king of Thaedra summoned all his strength and conjured an arcane storm, cutting down dozens of blood mages and demons alike. Amicus was severely wounded, but his destiny was postponed; just at that moment, the Ulendrum released dark bindings and dragged Amicus into the realm of Brimrock. For the time being, the enemy was defeated. Race for the Ulendrum ;An Alternative Agenda With Amicus gone and the blood mages leaderless, Althalos and Loras knew the battle was all but finished, yet their task remained. The two raced for the fortress to find and destroy the Ulendrum once and for all. Members of the armies of the realm and the council shouted rallying cries and rejoiced as the demons retreated into caverns within the isle. ;The Book At last, the two reached the summit and assailed the book with any magic they had left. When this failed, the each tried their own strength, but it was of no use. The book would not be destroyed. The two resolved to carry the book deep into the caverns of the isle and toss it into the breach between the realm of the living and Brimrock. ;The Breach is Closed The armies of the world drove the demons and remaining cultists into the breach between Ythanica and Brimrock, and Loras tossed the Ulendrum into the portal. The Dire Council united behind the arcanist as he and the mages of the realm closed the breach for good. The war was over. The Aftermath had begun.